AstraZeneca PLC has appointed José Baselga, a prominent but controversial cancer doctor, to lead oncology research and development as part of a wider overhaul designed to get drugs to market faster. His appointment Monday comes just months after Dr. Baselga, 59 years old, resigned from a string of top positions--including chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the board of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.--for sometimes failing to disclose his ties with the drug industry in academic journal articles.

Celgene Corp. , the biopharmaceutical company that agreed last week to be acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in a mega-deal valued at $74 billion, provided 2019 profit and sales outlooks that were above expectations. The company said it expects adjusted earnings per share, which excludes non-recurring items, of $10.60 to $10.80, above the the FactSet consensus of $10.31. Revenue is expected to be $17.0 billion to $17.2 billion, Celgene said, while the FactSet consensus is for $16.95 billion. The company expects 2019 sales of its blockbuster drug Revlimid to rise 11% to about $10.8 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $10.85 billion. "Multiple clinical and regulatory milestones are expected in 2019 to advance our late-stage portfolio and accelerate our early-stage pipeline," Chief Executive Mark Alles said. The stock slipped 0.5% in premarket trade, while Bristol-Myers shares edged up 0.2%. Despite a 21% surge last Thursday after the Bristol-Myers deal was announced, Celgene shares have still lost 19.1% over the past 12 months through Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 7.4%.

Bonds issued by Celgene Corp. rallied on Thursday, after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it was acquiring the company in a cash-and-stock deal with an equity value of about $74 billion. Spreads on Celgene's most active bonds, the 4.550% notes that mature in February of 2048, tightened by about 42 basis points to 203 basis points over Treasurys, according to MarketAxess. The price was up about 5 points to 93.256 cents on the dollar, MarketAxess data showed. The notes were the most active of the session. Celgene's 3.900% notes that mature in February of 2028, tightened by 34 basis points to 171 basis points over Treasurys. On the equity side, shares were up 25%, but are down about 24% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has fallen 10%.

U.S.stock indexes opened solidly lower Thursday as investors got their first chance to react to a late-Wednesday announcement from Apple Inc. The iPhone maker cut its sales forecast, citing softness in China's economy, underscoring fears that the world's second-largest economy is contracting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 240 points, or 1.1%, at 23,103, the S&P 500 index fell 0.7% at 2,494, and the technology and internet-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index declined by 1.2% at 6,588. Shares of Apple Inc. were down 8.4% . By dint of its outsize market value and its share price, Apple's stock-price moves are influential in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 and the price-weighted Dow. On the data front, private-sector employment jumped in December, as employers added a better-than-expected 271,000 jobs, Automatic Data Processing reported. In corporate news, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced a $74 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of Celgene Corp .

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s agreement to acquire Celgene Corp. is "an exit opportunity for Celgene shareholders," Leerink analysts wrote in a note to investors Thursday morning. Under the terms of the acquisition deal, Celgene shareholders will be receiving $50 in cash, one Bristol-Myers share and one tradeable Contingent Value Right for each share of Celgene. However, Leerink recommended shareholders "take advantage of the recent deal announcement upside before the deal closes," saying there is a risk that shares of Bristol-Myers will continue to fall and Bristol-Meyers shareholders could still reject the offer. Celgene shares shot up 34% in premarket trading after the acquisition announcement, while Bristol's stock fell more than 7%. Leerink estimated the current premarket upside for Celgene shareholders to be around 30%, calling an exit now to be the "best case scenario for value realization." Shares of Celgene have fallen 39% in the past 12 months, while Bristol-Myers shares have fallen 15%. The S&P 500 has fallen 7.5%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s agreement to buy rival Celgene for around $74 billion creates a powerhouse in the rapidly growing pharmaceutical sector and shows the war against cancer has become a commercial battlefield.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It includes chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.
(See Full Profile)

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time.
Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.